When baking with kids and decorating cupcakes around Easter, you simply have to let a few things slide. Icing on the floor? It's going to happen. And those frosting-filled piping bags? They don't stand a cupcake's chance at a kid's birthday party.
Luckily, there is nothing wrong (and a lot that's right) with giving a festive home-spun look to your cupcakes. To achieve the designs below, all starring Peeps and themed after Easter and springtime tales, we used just a small spoon, butter knife and a criminal amount of frosting and candy.
Vanilla Cupcake Recipe
Though the base in our cupcakes is a balanced vanilla cake, a chocolate, red velvet or even carrot cake (with the buttercream frosting swapped for cream cheese) will be equally sweet with any of the designs.
Cupcakes:

1 3/4 cups cake flour

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 sticks butter, room temperature

4 eggs, room temperature

1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)

1 1/4 cup 2% milk

Frosting:

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

6 to 7 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup 2% milk

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon lemon juice (optional)

green food coloring

1. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners and preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a large mixing bowl (preferably from a stand mixer), sift flours, sugar, baking powder and salt. Using an electric mixer set on low speed, mix butter into dry ingredients until well incorporated.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, vanilla bean paste and milk. With the mixture on medium speed, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients in thirds. Beat until incorporated, but be careful not to over-mix.
4. Divide batter among liners so that each are about 2/3 full. Bake on the center rack for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
5. To make frosting, cream butter with an electric or stand mixer until light and fluffy. Add 4 cups of powdered sugar, milk and vanilla and mix on low speed. Once creamy, add remaining cup of powdered sugar and beat until desired consistency (3 to 5 minutes). Taste frosting and if it is sweeter than desired, add lemon juice. Add additional powdered sugar for fluffier frosting, or additional milk for a creamier frosting. Add food coloring, a few drops at a time, and mix until you achieve a uniform color.
Peep-ter Rabbit
For more fantastic recipes with Peeps, visit the Peeps recipe page. And for more of our Peeps dessert recipes and cupcakes for Easter, see below.
This article originally appeared as on Relish